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<p>The National Pupil Database (NPD) is a longitudinal research database that provides
evidence on educational performance to inform independent research, as well as studies
commissioned by the Department.</p><p> </p><p>The Department may legally share the
NPD, or elements of it, with third parties, using powers set out in Section 537A of
the Education Act 1997 and the Education (Individual Pupil Information) (Prescribed
Persons) (England) Regulations 2009. Organisations requesting access under those powers
must show how it will be used to promote pupils’ education, through evidence or research.</p><p>
</p><p>In addition to the provisions within the Education Act 1997, in line with the
Data Protection Act 1998, where the police or Home Office have evidence that a child
may be at risk or evidence of criminal activity, limited data including a pupil’s
address and school details may be requested from the NPD. This data does not include
nationality or country of birth information. It is right that we share this data if
it helps to keep a child safe from harm or to disrupt a crime.</p><p> </p><p>Anyone
requesting data from the NPD must comply with strict confidentiality and security
rules and be registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office for their request
to be approved. Any access to sensitive data is strictly controlled and governed by
legal experts and senior civil servants.</p><p> </p><p>Access is subject to requestors
complying with strict terms and conditions imposed under contractual arrangements.
The requestor must demonstrate that they have the appropriate security arrangements
in place to process the data and will keep the data only for the specified length
of time. A security questionnaire provided with each application provides details
of the organisation’s technical and physical security measures. The information provided
in the security questionnaire is considered as part of the approvals process. Experience
suggests organisations using NPD take these processes very seriously and comply with
these conditions.</p><p> </p><p>A data retention period is set for any extract of
the NPD we provide to third parties and is usually between 6 months and 3 years, depending
on the aims of the project. Data destruction is a vital part of data sharing agreements,
and the Department follows up each permitted use to seek confirmation that data has
been appropriately destroyed.</p><p> </p><p>The process and guidelines for requesting
access to extracts of the NPD, as well as a full list of requests received and processed
by the Department, is available at: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-pupil-database"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/national-pupil-database</a>.</p>
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